Two Jersey City residents have accused United Airlines of being deceptive in how it lets consumers use frequent flyer miles for hotel rooms and other services.

In a federal lawsuit filed this week, Robert Gordon and Melissa Chan said the air carrier attempted to charge each of them different amounts of miles for the same hotel room last year when they were booking a trip together. Both are members of United’s MileagePlus rewards program, the suit said.

According to the complaint, Gordon in August 2012 was attempting to book a three-night stay at a hotel in Japan using his miles. United’s website told him it would cost him 40,750 miles, the suit said. This was more than he had in his account, but fewer than the number of miles that Chan had, it said.

As a result, Chan, who had 41,733 miles in her MileagePlus account, decided to book the same room for same dates using her miles instead, the complaint said. But when she attempted to do so a few minutes later, United’s website required her to use 44,500 miles, or 3,750 miles more than what it attempted to charge Gordon. To book the hotel room, Chan had to pay $26.10 to buy the additional miles that United charged her, the suit said.

The suit said Gordon then called United, but was told the airline uses an algorithm that modifies the number miles needed for an award, depending on the number of miles the person has. They claim United was deceptive in not disclosing this alleged practice, and are seeking a class-action status for their lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday.

In a statement, a United spokeswoman said, “We believe this suit is without merit both factually and legally.”

According to United website, the MileagePlus awards program for hotels and car rentals are subject to several rules including: “Certain Members may receive preferential pricing. Pricing is subject to change without notice.”